Chapter 34 Chapter Thirty four

Chapter 34 Chapter Thirty four
Mira’s pov

I woke up with a pounding headache that drilled straight through my skull. I groped for my phone on the nightstand, eyes narrowing against the harsh screen glare.
I sat up slowly, thumbing through notifications without really seeing them. The school group chat was already blowing up. I scrolled past the thread arguing about whether I’d actually done anything wrong. I quickly swiped off the page and blocked every single group and community I was part of, watching the chat icons vanish one by one.
I noticed another notification and it was a message from Mrs Helen. I sighed as I opened it then my heart suddenly felt heavy. 
‘Hi Mira, It's Emma. Mummy said you were not replying. Are you mad at me? I’m sorry. Nat refused to bring me to your house. Mum is drunk now.’
I stared at the screen for a long moment, the letters blurring slightly in the dark room. I couldn’t bring myself to ignore my sweet girl. I will endure whatever Nat thinks of me because of her. 
‘I’m not mad at you, Em. I’ll come on Saturday, I promise.’
I dropped back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling wondering what I would face in Nat’s house. I’m sure his parents must have seen the videos, a stalker taking care of their daughter. I covered my face with a blanket, I have to talk to Nat, I can’t afford to lose this job. Things weren't as hard as they used to be, all thanks to them. 
My alarm finally cut through the silence. I dragged myself up, yanked open the thick curtains, and let the pale morning light spill across the room.
The shower helped loosen some of the tension in my shoulders, but picking an outfit felt like another battle. I knew after that video I would face people in school and I need a cloth that would hide my hair as it’s the most noticed part about me, but thinking of it I’m always noticed no matter what I wear. I pulled a black hoodie and grey jeans. This would do, I put them on adjusting myself in the mirror before deciding it was good enough.
“I’m beautiful. I’m loved by Elma, Mum, Daddy, and Aunt Ruth. I’m enough,” I whispered to my reflection, the words were shaky but determined. I grabbed my backpack and left the room.
Aunty Ruth and Mum were in the living room. Mum was already dressed for work. 
“Baby, you can do more with that dressing.” Aunt Ruth said, sitting up quickly and reaching toward me. “Show some skin.”
“I’m running late, Aunt.” I leaned in to peck her cheek, then accepted Mum’s warm forehead kiss.
Ryan was waiting by the side entrance before the first bell, the halls still mostly empty. Our footsteps echoed loudly in the quiet space.
“Tell me,” I bit out, jaw clenched as I approached him.
“It’s Chloe.” He pulled out his phone, expression serious. “Check this.”
“No way…” My eyes widened as I leaned in. “She hacked the voting system to spy on herself?”
“She did that to fix the vote and cover it up when Amber started sniffing around.” He showed me a screenshot, timestamps lining up with every strange thing we’d seen. “She’s been logging in from her own device. Sloppy, actually, once you know where to look.”
“So Amber was right.”
“Looks like it.” He pocketed his phone. “Doesn’t mean I trust her either, but yeah.”
“What do we do with it?”
“Nothing, for now.” He leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. “If we go public with this too fast, it comes back on us. Better to sit on it until we actually need it.”
“I don’t love that.”
“I don’t either.” He shrugged. “But I’d rather sit on something true than hand it over and watch someone twist it before we’re ready.”
“How long do we wait?”
“Until it actually helps you.” He glanced toward the doors as more students started filing in. “Not before.”
I didn’t have a better answer than that, so I shoved the whole thing down next to everything else I was carrying and went to class.
Mrs. Carlton called our names first for the project presentations. My stomach dropped the moment I saw Kem’s face twist into that fake-sweet smirk.
“We can go first.” She announced brightly, shooting her hand up before I could react. She stood and smoothed her skirt before moving to the front. 
I followed her to the front, clutching my research folder tightly against my chest. How could someone who contributed nothing suddenly act so eager?
“So,” She started, addressing the class instead of the actual assignment. “I want to be honest. Mira kind of shut me out of this project. She never shared her research with me, never responded to my texts about meeting up.” She turned to me, wide-eyed. “I tried, though. I really did.”
My mouth fell open. “That’s not—”
“I have the texts.” She cut me off and held up her phone, though I couldn’t see the screen from where I stood.
Mrs. Carlton’s eyes moved between us, unreadable, her pen tapping once against her clipboard.
“I did all the research,” I snapped, fists clenched at my sides, refusing to crumble again. “She showed up once and slept through everything.”
“See, this is exactly what I mean.” Her voice cracked. “She gets defensive the second anyone questions her.”
I felt my face go hot under the weight of all the eyes.
“Nat.” Mrs. Carlton glanced toward the back. “You don’t offer this course, do you?”
I hadn’t even clocked him in the room until his name got called.
He looked up slowly, his eyes flicking to me for half a second before settling somewhere just past my shoulder.
“I just transferred.” 
Mrs. Carlton studied him a moment longer before turning back to us. “So you’re saying you didn’t do the project?”
“You are saying that you didn’t do the project?” She asked no one in particular. 
“I did,” I insisted, voice rising.
“She’s lying,” Kem muttered.
“I told you all that group work determines your score.”
“No Mrs Carlton, I’m not lying. I can’t afford to fail this course.”
“All you do is lie, so.”
“I mean.” Nat’s voice rose, everyone turned to his direction. “Mira’s not exactly known for being straightforward.”
The class erupted in murmurs. I stood there, my folder still pressed against my chest, waiting for the ground to open up and take me somewhere else entirely. 
Mrs. Carlton cleared her throat and told us both to stay after class to sort out the grade, and I sat through the rest of the period without hearing a single word anyone said, my pen frozen over blank notes, my ears still ringing with not exactly known for being straightforward.
I kept my eyes on my desk for the rest of the hour, refusing to give anyone the satisfaction of watching me fall apart. Somewhere behind me, I heard someone whisper something and someone else laugh, quiet enough that I couldn’t be sure it was about me, loud enough that I knew it probably was.
The bell finally rang. I stayed after with Kem like Mrs. Carlton asked, answering questions I barely heard, watching Kem nod along and apologize in that same practiced voice while somehow still managing to make it sound like all of this was my fault to begin with.
I found Kem and Chloe waiting by my locker after the session.
“Hey Whale, want some pizza?.” Chloe’s voice rose down the hall, drawing a few heads. “Everyone run the building’s about to collapse under all that weight.”
I ignored them and kept walking. Kem hissed from beside the locker.
“I work smart,” she sneered, leaning in close.
“If that’s what you call smart, you’re actually brain-dead,” I shot back, shoving past her. It was the first time I’d answered them directly. Both their mouths popped open in surprise.
“You’ve got balls now, huh?” Kem smirked, trailing behind me. “Desperate whale.”
“You don’t fucking walk away from me.” Chloe snapped, yanking me back by the hood of my sweatshirt.
I spun around, heart hammering, fingers white-knuckled on my backpack strap. “Let. Go.”
“Nat would never look at you twice. Have you seen yourself?” Kem cut in, lip curled. “You look disgusting.”
“Take a look at me,” Chloe spun dramatically, showing off. “Beautiful, smart, and actually healthy.” 
Kem laughed and hyped her up.
“If you’re all that.” I met Chloe’s eyes dead-on, chin lifted even as my legs felt shaky. “Why do you need to cheat to win prom queen?”
The hallway went quiet in a different way this time.
Chloe’s smile faltered, just barely, but I caught it.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sure you don’t.” I hitched my bag higher on my shoulder. “Care to explain who has been logging into the voting system from your laptop.”
Her face went pale for exactly one second before she caught herself, grabbing Kem’s arm and turning sharply.
“Come on.” She said it low, tight. “She’s not worth this.”
They walked off fast, Kem glancing back once with something unreadable on her face, and I stood there in the hallway, my hands shaking, a small ugly victory sitting strange in my chest.
I let myself breathe for the first time in what felt like hours, the noise of the hallway settling back around me.
I was still catching my breath when a hand closed around my arm and pulled me sideways into the empty stairwell.
Nat.
My back hit the wall, my backpack crushed between us, his grip firm enough that I couldn’t twist free.
“That was cute.” His voice was low, close enough that I could feel the words more than hear them, each one dripping with contempt. “What surprise do you have in store for me next? Want my shirt now too?”
“Let go of me,” I hissed, shoving hard against his chest.
“You will regret messing with me.”
“I’m not your stalker”
“Save the act.” He released my arm abruptly and stepped back, but his stare pinned me in place. “You will need more by the time I’m done with you.”